I suggest a campaign about ...

Forestry Commisson U-TURN - Delamere Forest once again under threat!

Despite the House of Lords overturning the sell off of our beloved Delamere Forest - the Forestry Commisson has prompted a consultation within a window of 1 month to build 70 holiday homes across the Forest creating a devastating impact on the wild life, trees and habitat.

PLEASE HELP US FIGHT THIS! Is there nowhere in the north west which is protected from development??!!

This area is vital protecting what wildlife we have left, and now the FC (gov) want to strip a huge area, laying pipes and leading to the inevitable human contamination.

There are so many SSSIs in Delamere Forest I am astounded that this plan should be considered. Woodland should be managed by foresters (and there are many who would volunteer their services in this regard) and funds raised by traditional means. This kind of plan is, effectively, selling off woodland - and we all know what an uproar that suggestion caused. I hope that the presence of the oil pipe line, at least, will scupper these
horrendous plans.

I live on the edge of beautiful Delamere forest and feel devastated that lodges will be built in the woods. There is no attempt to hide that this is a money making scheme unconcerned with conservation and no ecologically sound basis. It's all about profit and pollution in one of our rare, unspoilt treasures. Let people enjoy it as it is and promote accommodation around the area so they can come and stay? It's illogical and will change the natural tranquility forever!

The planning department recently let the Go Ape site at Delamere put a shipping container right next to the wetlands project at Birchenholt North! Just because it has wood bolted to its sides! But I suppose Go Ape are in on the plans as they already work in partnership with other FC and Forest Holidays sites around England. In it for the money nothing else..

England has forests stretching from one coast to another.
- Except for the little gaps in between which we've cleared for farming, villages, a few tracks between them.
Oh - and the towns. And the cities.
Really, we're ALL living in the countryside.
Except that the countryside is now all buildings and roads and tarmac.
Then someone noticed that in between the towns and the cities and the villages - and even between the hamlets, it was different.
And, to define where the towns and villages and hamlets and roads and other stuff we've built wasn't, we called it 'Countryside'.

That's what it is.
The bit that's not built on.

And at sometime in the Industrial Revolution someone said 'Some of this is rather nice.
Let's save it being built on, so people can enjoy looking at how different it is - and it's nice for a break'.
So, they didn't build on some bits and they called the gaps between the buildings 'Parks'.

Then, in the 20th Century, more of the country was towns and cities and so some people said 'Let's set aside some places and call them 'Greenbelt' and 'Protected forests' and they can be safe from what we're doing everywhere else.
And so there were places where the foliage and wildlife was safe, and where people could get away from roads and buildings and noise - and even other people. This made the Countryside special and people loved visiting it, reading about it and watching programs on TV about it because it was different to everywhere else they went in their lives.

And in the 21st Century it was noticed that all the people and their machines was killing the biosphere, warming the globe, destroying the climate and causing mass extinction - which meant not only that there would be less places people could live but that there would be less food for those people, and it became a matter of life and death to have growing green places.

And then someone said "If we build in these areas, we can make lots of money and that will allow us to make sure these places are safe from building and people can live in the forests where they bring their cars and their sound systems and their TV's - because they love the peace and natural quality of the forests so very much".

Don't build on the forests.
If you want to build a 'Forest Experience' then do it somewhere where there is a god transport infrastructure and a viable sewage system - and where the WiFi reception is reliable. Do it in the bit of forest that we've AL:READY 'Improved'.
Do it in a town - and plant 100 or so trees around your 'forest village' to give the 'Forest' experiencer that people so plainly crave.
THAT would be constructive - and we can applaud you for loving the environment.

Otherwise, it's the same as funding a nursery by offering up tasty baby steaks to visitors.

The parallel is exact.
Being paid to do something does NOT make it a good idea.
It does not make it right.

Delamere Forest is a diverse and beautiful area. Building on it is an act of vandalism. Why can't the lodges be build on brown belt land. Where adding a lake and landscaping would generate additional nesting and breeding areas and improve an area.
Any company that accepts this contract is one that needs to check it's ethics. Destruction for a quick profit is never good business and in the long term there are no winners. A lodge with a view at the cost of this forest is a disgrace.

Presumably a full planning aopplication is required along with an environmental assessment. All comments here should be forwarded as a log of comments to the planning officer.

Where envinonmental impacts are well managed, sites suitable and not to detriment of other users and total forest area and quality are not reduced then developments that keep our forests relevant and solvent should not be dismissed out of hand. However, forests are forests and usage should be appropriate and carrying capacity not exceeded. The onus should be on the FC to demonstarte this.

You will be aware that a massive holiday village is being proposed in the Delamere Forest. The forest is full. It really cannot take such new developments and still be a woodland with wildlife. At weekends there are so many people, dogs running loose, children running loose and prams three abreast.
I used to take my daughter riding our horses in the Delamere but it is hardly suitable now unless we get in and out before 9am on weekdays.

We must preserve the Delamere from becoming one big theme park. Any local jobs this development produces will only be a few menial low-paid ones.

To add to Giles comment:- Please see The link below to ensure you send your letters of objection in. It has been advised that each letter of objection will carry more more weight as each is seen as a single objection whereas signing a petition with a hundred names will only count as one objection. So see the templates on the website, add your own comments, write your own original letter, but do it and do it now! Let's cover off every angle we can to get our objections across to those that will decide whether Delamere's tranquil settings will be obliterated forever! REMEMBER - 'Once it's gone its gone!http://cadd.me.uk/links_to_register_objections_5.html

Frank, if you copy and paste the website link into an e-mail you can then e-mail it to your friends / contacts. NB PLEASE EVERYONE NOTE there is a protest rally on this Sunday, 25th March, at 1pm at the Linmere Lodge car park in Delamere Forest. Please everyone come if you can, there will be press coverage and the impact will be far greater if there are hundreds there. This is a real chance to send out a message close to the expiry of the consultation process. See the CADD website for further details - http://cadd.me.uk/index.html

Delamere Forest is already segmented by two main roads, a forest road to the visitors centre and a railway line. The introduction of the holiday camp at the northern end of the forest with 2K of new forest roads for traffic associated with the holiday camp winding its way though the trees (that are left) will segment the forest further, increase pollution in the forest and spoil the tranquility of the quieter northern part of the forest. The development is too big and poorly positioned for a small forest like Delamere.

How can this destruction have happened and be so evident to anyone who walks around the forest without the necessary due diligence and consent. We feel crestfallen and distraught towards the forestry commission for its lack of respect of this forest, wildlife and environment. There is no other reason for this to happen apart from corporate greed.

On the question of how all these lodges would be powered and heated - they will have ground source heat pumps for heating. But they could not tell me anything about use of renewable energy - some muttering about solar PV (under the trees?) and even turbines - because you can clear a channel for wind through the forest, you know! - but I was not convinced they had factoring this in as there is nothing on the plans. The lodges are made sectionally in Northern Ireland and assembled on site using big cranes to put the parts in place. there has been no assessment or prediction of the carbon footprint - the developers did not seem to think this was an issue.

I asked the question about spending in the local economy. On one hand they were saying that visitors to the lodges would use local shops and pubs/restaurants. They could not tell me what the shops on the plan of the Linmere site would be 'they're not really shops'(?). On the other hand - regarding traffic in and out of the forest - they tried to say that these visitors would actually be spending most of their time in the lodges and would not be driving in and out. Plus the gates would be locked - maybe at 10pm. Not much use if you have gone off for a meal - or a wild night at Amore!! I also asked if the delivery options offered at other Forest Holiday sites would be on offer at Delamere and, if so, would the items be from local producers and suppliers. They could not supply any of that info. So potentially this could benefit small local shops such as Ashton Hayes Community Shop (plug!!), Delamere Stores and Kingsley Co-op but it might just benefit Ocado!
Also we were told that there is 'no wildlife' in that part of the forest. So those badger setts on the plan are, like the shops, not really there.

At a recent meeting of the Forestry Commission this discussion was minuted.

How do we give more people the experience of being in a natural forest ? Here's an idea....lets build a big visitor centre that will house some tacky shops that will sell posters and maps and provide talks about how beautiful the forest is.

That sounds good how will we fund it? Well we could fell all the trees and put lodges in their place with hot tubs and car park spaces and roads and reception centres and maintenance buildings and charge people a fortune for staying there.

Won't that mean there won't be a Forest for the people to see? Well we could put a nice expensive restaurant at the Visitor Centre so people won't need to go outside.

This sounds good anyone know who could build this ? Yes I am the Chair of a Company who will help you build and manage it for you and and we only take 51% of revenue.

Great when can we start? Sorry we already have, the trees have been felled and the lodge sites are marked up and the trails widened ....we just need to give the impression we are listening to the peoples silly concerns and then build the lodge.

Fantastic well done everyone we seem to have achieved our objectives this year of protecting our forests - lets give ourselves a pay rise!

As a resident of Cuddington of some 35 years I am horrified by the Forestry Commission’s plans to build "Disney at Delamere", a village (of 78 cottages) and the unnecessary expansion of “facilities” in the forest. It is where lots of us walk with our dogs, ride horses, and families roam in tranquility, but it seems that we locals and regular visitors are not relevant to Forestry Commission. We will lose our forest forever. Rural life is meant to be tranquil and peaceful but this proposed development would bring increased traffic and pollution as well as the destruction of natural habitat which can never be replaced. Life does not just revolve around MONEY and PROFIT. This must not go ahead.

I am amazed that there is a lack of vision and imagination in ideas of how to utilise the forest to both maximise profit,enjoyment and sustainablitiy of the environment. I am sure that if you asked some of us that regularly access the forest for ideas you would be inundated.
To me it seems like the idea of cabins is out dated and belongs to much larger expanses of land than that of Delamere forest. The Centre Parcs idea has been done to death. We have so little open space in this country that Delamere is an oasis in the middle of three large cities - Manchester, Liverpool and Chester. This project seems to be access for a few not the many that now use it.